With Child Car Seats it’s Safety First!

The Perfect Car Seat, Does it Exist?

It goes without saying that there is nothing more important to a parent than their child’s safety. It’s often more of a challenge, however, to figure out how to make sure your child is safe. While safe driving and a safe vehicle are half the battle, a good car seat cannot be overlooked.

Read on for helpful tips on what to look for in a car seat, what the law requires and even some recommendations on which models to buy.

There are three main kinds of car seats.The first is a rear facing car seat which has a harness and is designed to move with your child in the event of a crash to reduce the force applied to your young child’s neck and spinal cord. These are also known as “infant car seats.” For the most part, these car seats can hold a child up to thirty five pounds and thirty two inches tall. Check the label to be sure. A lot of times they come with a handle, so you can simply disengage the seat from your car and carry your child. Better still are the kind that can pop in and out of a stroller. This makes for a lot less packing when you travel with your child. The Evenflo Journey 300 Stroller with Embrace 35 Car Seat certainly fits the bill here. The accompanying stroller comes with plenty of storage and is easy to pack up with one hand.

A forward facing car seat also has a harness AND a tether.

It faces forward; however, the harness and tether will limit the child’s movements in the event of a crash. Your best bet here is to go with a convertible car seat. These are seats that let you transition from rear facing to forward facing as your child grows, without spending more money on a brand new seat. They will comfortably fit a child all the way up to eighty pounds or fifty inches in height. One of the best available is the Britax Marathon 70-G3 Convertible car seat. You get a car seat that can face backwards or forwards, that still keeps the one quality everyone wants: safety. Its still bars will help maintain its form during a crash, while the energy absorbing tether webbing resists and movement forward.

Lastly, a booster seat works with your car’s actual seatbelt.

It simply positions your child in such a way that the seat belt crosses the strongest parts of your child’s body. Let’s explore each one of these in more detail. The Graco Highback TurboBooster car seat is perfect for your needs. It can accommodate your child from three to ten years—from thirty to one hundred pounds and all the way up to fifty seven inches. Practically everything on the seat is adjustable, from the backrest to the neck rest to even the armrests, meaning you give your child the most comfortable fit for the longest time.

Another great option is a three in one car seat, which covers all your needs.

Check to make sure, but there are three in one style car seats which will accommodate your baby all the way up to four years of age and even longer. One of the more popular models is the Graco Nautilus 3-1 Car Seat. This model is made with a foam material that helps absorb force the moment of a crash, which is also reinforced by steel. Its various harness points make it extremely easy to adapt to your child’s size while still providing the safety you crave.

One word about three-in-one car seats, they will be a lot heavier. This makes sense when you think about all they include. They will also be more difficult to transition in and out of a car. When purchasing a three in one car seat be sure to check and make sure your baby fits safely and doesn’t need extra support to provide a tight fit. This is what the car seat is trying to avoid in the first place.

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration sets the standards!

Gone are the days of toddlers sitting on their parent’s lap or on the middle console. There are now laws that mandate you must have a car seat for children under a certain height. So simply not wanting to bother with one or even being able to afford it should not keep you from shopping for one.

The reasoning is that car crashes are actually one of the leading causes of death in children one to thirteen years of age in this country. Their reasoning is that buying and utilizing an appropriate car seat will cut down on this unfortunate statistic. In fact, the data shows that using the proper car seat would cut back on 71% of accident related fatalities in our children. Check with your local state authorities regarding the laws specific to where you live. It will keep your child safe and you out of any unnecessary tickets.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does have recommendations on their website, however.

They recommend from birth to twelve months you use a rear facing car seat.

From one to three years of age, they maintain rear facing is still the best. In fact, their recommendation is to keep your child in rear facing car seats for as long as possible. Only after they reach the weight and height limit does the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recommend you move to a forward facing seat.

At four years old, your child will most likely need to face forward. However, they should still be using a booster seat until around age seven when they outgrow it. At this point, they can then sit in a booster seat, but should still remain in the back. After eight and until about twelve, your child should remain in a booster seat. The age will depend on your child’s weight and height, but they should stay in one until they can sit in the car seat, unassisted, and wearing the seat belt comfortably. Even then, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration advises having your child sit in the back where it’s safer.

There are plenty of other experts and advice to be found on the internet or even in your social circle. Whatever you decide to do, just remember the above is governed by actual laws. Again, check with your local authorities to make sure the child car seat you plan on purchasing meets all their requirements.

The Best Investment You Can Make.

No one likes thinking about the potential of their child’s safety being at risk. It’s important to remember nothing can replace safe driving, coupled with an awareness of road conditions. Buying the safest car you can afford will also provide your child with the safety they need and the peace of mind you want. The one investment all parents still need to make, however, is a car seat that will work with your automobile to protect your most precious cargo when the unfortunate happens.